Name: Camila Solis-Camara
Party: SEAStheCurve
Bio: Camila is a sophomore studying financial engineering. She was born in Cancun, Mexico and grew up in Miami, Florida. She is passionate about reducing the stress culture in SEAS, and believes that she can do so by making student life more affordable and enjoyable. She hopes to accomplish this by increasing CPS funding, expanding student group funds, allocating Bacchanal funds more efficiently, increasing financial aid transparency, and creating better connections with alumni to facilitate internship search. On campus, she can be found working at Columbia Business School, participating in service events, and relaxing on Butler Lawn.
Platform: Camila hopes that her plans as VP Finance will reduce the stress surrounding SEAS students. She wants to allocate funds in more efficient ways that prioritize students’ mental health. She hopes that her plans will allow students to spend less time worrying about financing their college experience and more time enjoying it.
CPS Funding:
– Work with fellow VPs and administration to ensure that CPS funds increase
o Create 24/7 CPS call center
o Eliminate cap on the number of student visits
Student and Student Group Funding:
– Work with VP Communications to increase advertising for Capital Investment Fund and Alternative Break Program so more students apply
o CIF funds large-scale equipment/supplies for clubs and student groups
o ABP funds students who develop civic engagement projects and need money for traveling
– Expand University Chaplain Co-Sponsorship Fund so that more events can be hosted for students of color and for LGBTQ+
o This fund gives financial and administrative support to programs that focus on religion, spirituality, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, gender, social justice, and community service
o Data shows that Columbia students of color and LGBTQ+ suffer the most from stress
– Expand SEAS Dean Travel Fund so more students can pursue national and international opportunities
o Right now, award can total only up to 50% of costs
o Work with VP Communications to ensure more people know about this opportunity and are informed about deadlines
Bacchanal Funding:
– Talk to public safety with the goal of increasing the amount of people that are allowed to attend
o Columbia charges everyone a student life fee and part of this fee is used to pay for Bacchanal, so more people should have a right to attend
– Pressure administration to redistribute money so that it is spent more efficiently and safety costs are brought down (which would increase the budget for the artists!)
– Act with JCCC to come up with solutions to fund event in case of emergency
o In Spring 2016, emergency funding was needed and Bacchanal was threatened of being cancelled
Religious Funding:
– Fund a Muslim religious advisor and a designated prayer space
Financial Aid:
– Create a financial aid iOS/Android application
o App would allow students to link a calendar with important financial aid deadlines to their phones
o App would allow students to type in how much they spend per month on each category (food, school supplies, etc) so that they can keep better track of and better administer their expenses
o App would keep track of which documents have been submitted and still need to be submitted to reapply for financial aid
Internships and Jobs:
– Create a Google Doc for each engineering major, share specific-major doc with alumni so interested alumni can declare where they’re working and provide contact information. A static version of the doc will be sent to students with declared majors so they can use this resource to network and obtain mentoring
Name: Cesar Trujillo
Party: Back to the FUture
Bio: Cesar Trujillo is a current junior from the Los Angeles Area studying Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Architecture. He has served on the executive board and participated on different committees for his fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta. Cesar has had his share with different engineering student groups and has seen the different challenges they all face and Cesar wishes to help address these during his term. In his spare time, you can find him working on his personal product design projects, playing FIFA, or in Dodge training for powerlifting.
Platform: As VP Finance, Cesar wants to assist student groups in achieving their combined academic and extracurricular goals by helping remove the financial burden on their projects. He plans to reinforce and create new relationships between the Finance committee and all student groups so that they can comfortably approach our committee with any logistical issues. Cesar and the Finance Committee will work diligently with the Communications Committee when they meet with student groups to hear their concerns and suggest possible funding opportunities that may assist them. Cesar will help promote and create resources for SEAS students who pursue personal projects.
Student Groups
– Hear concerns of student groups and directly suggest funding opportunities that address their specific issues
– Trying to increase the vendor list that Columbia imposes on student groups
– Assist new student groups seeking to gain recognition in ways they can receive funding to help them get started successfully
– Clarify the process of alumni donations directly to student groups
– Hold workshops with student groups on what we look for when reviewing application for funding opportunities
Personal Projects
– Expand technical resources available to students who wish to pursue personal projects
– Promote grants that help fund individual students that need financial assistance in completing their projects
– Work with the administration to help connect students with alumni or faculty that may be of assistance to them in their projects
SEAS Community
– Listening to the SEAS community’s concerns and finding ways to help fix their concerns by allocation of funds
– Funding of workshops that help promote mental health awareness and resources on campus
– Continuing the work of current VP Finance in working with Financial Aid to increase transparency regarding students’ financial aid packages
– Continuing the work of current VP Finance to improve financial literacy across the community